One Week in Maui

One Week In Maui

TRAVEL DATES
January 16 – 23, 2020

WHY YOU SHOULD GO
For those living in the United States, Hawaii is a destination that feels like you’ve gone abroad with the familiarity and conveniences of staying stateside.

We went to visit Loren’s family that actually lives on the island. After a long year of job changes and side hustles, we needed a trip that would allow us to relax and spend time with each other. When we travel, we tend to do more active and busy adventures but this time around we needed a place that could allow us to be adventurous when we were up for it and chill out when we weren’t.

WHERE WE STAYED
We stayed at an Airbnb in Kihei, right across the street from the beach. We had a fully furnished 2-bedroom condo that included parking, a pool, and in-unit laundry. Five of us stayed 7 nights for a total of $2,262.

HOW WE GOT THERE
We flew into Kahului, HI (OGG) on a non-stop flight from Chicago (9 hours 33 min). We used miles but the average cost per ticket the days we flew were $700.

GETTING AROUND
It’s easier to experience all of Maui with a car rental. Fortunately, Maui offers many local, budget car rentals at very low rates. We rented a Ford Escape for 7 days for $380 from Kahului Auto Rentals.

Day 1
We left Chicago at 10am CST and landed at 3pm local Hawaii time. Loren’s lovely brother and his girlfriend greeted us at the airport with leis and coconuts! We spent the evening at his brother’s home catching up and eating some delicious homemade soup. I left to pick up my parents and sister from the airport and checked into our Airbnb. After a very long travel day, we went to sleep around midnight.

Day 2
We grabbed brunch at Kihei Cafe. We had the crab cakes and some french toast. The place gets a line but it goes fast. It’s cash only so make sure to plan ahead. Then we walked around the shops at Kihei Kalama Village where my sister got a henna tattoo of a shark.

Even though it was a rainy day, we went to I’oa Valley State Park for a short .4 mile hike. This is a great place to see wild banana trees, tropical flowers, and learn more about this beautiful mountain area.

Then we drove to the nearby Maui Tropical Plantation. The plantation itself is free to visit but most of it is closed off to the public. To see most of the grounds you must take a $24, 40-min tram tour. Some of the crops we could see on the tour included bananas, coconuts, pineapples, jack fruit, macadamia nuts, and taro. We also watched a coconut husking demonstration. The tour ended with a fruit cup of strawberries and pineapples.

After the tour we went to The Mill House, the restaurant located on the grounds. Their happy hour included burgers made with beef that was raised on the property, fresh seafood and many vegan friendly options. They also have a large wine, beer, and cocktail menu. As for me, I had one of the best tiki drinks of my life! Our waiter was passionate and friendly and even brought our table a free dessert when he found out my mother had just graduated from her nurse practitioner program. As the day came to a close, we headed to a beach in Kihei to watch the sunset.

Day 3
We left our Airbnb before the sun came up and drove to Lahaina for an early morning whale watching tour with Hawaii Ocean Project. We learned about humpback whale breeding behaviors and how they swim all the way from Alaska to start a family. We quickly learned how to spot a blowhole from miles away. We were hanging with these massive animals for nearly two hours before it was time to head back to shore.

When we returned to Lahaina, we grabbed brunch at Down the Hatch (featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) and browsed the shops along Front Street. My parents got matching Hawaiian shirts at ABC Stores and I got some Dole Whip ice cream at Lappert’s ice cream shop.

Then we drove about 20 min up the coast to Kaanapali Beach. We played in the sand and boogie boarded until it started to rain. We hopped in the car and stopped at Leoda’s Pie Shop for a slice. We weren’t hungry for a full meal but their menu looked amazing. So we decided we’d come by again and only grabbed a slice of haupia pie (coconut cream and chocolate ganache!) for now.

After our pie break, we drove upcountry to Makai Glass Maui studio to check out some of the work our friend does. The art was amazing and learning more about glass blowing was educational but I realized we were surrounded by $13,000+ artwork that could easily shatter just by looking at it wrong. But the tour went smoothly and we all had a chance to do something we normally wouldn’t have had a chance to do. It was worth the risk but I’m really happy no one broke anything.

We ended the night having dinner at Nalu’s South Shore Grill. They were playing live music, as most nights have some kind of dinner show.

Day 4
On day four we got up with the sun and started our drive down the Hana Highway. We stopped at Ho’opika Beach Park to get amazing views of the island and watch some early morning surfers. We drove a few more miles and stopped for a short hike to Twin Falls. About halfway to Hana, we stopped at the Garden of Eden Arboretum. This private property was like walking through an outdoor botanic garden. There were fruit trees and large palms, rainbow eucalyptus trees, and amazing views of waterfalls and the ocean.

A bit closer to Hana, we stopped at Aunt Sandy’s Banana Bread. We first learned about this amazing place on the fourth episode of Gordon Ramsey: Uncharted. This banana bread was served fresh from the oven and melted in your mouth. We thought about saving some for later but ate the whole thing.

We arrived to our final destination at Hamoa Beach. It was low tide so we were able to hang out on the sand, snorkel with some fish, and check out the tidal pools. It started to rain and get a little dark so we drove back to the town of Hana for some dinner. We stopped at a food truck parking lot and got burritos and pizza and started the dark and windy drive back to Kihei.

We arrived home around 11pm and was about to fall asleep when Loren’s brother called us to let us know that he wouldn’t be able to use his Haleakala Sunrise tickets for the next morning. Tickets to the sunrise are nearly impossible to get and you are at the mercy of your internet browser’s refresh speed. You can either get them 2 months in advance of your trip or two days before. If you can’t get a ticket, locals suggest going at sunset and just look the other direction.

Day 5
We left our Airbnb at 4am to drive up to the Haleakala Crater. It was nearly 30 degrees the day we went but we brought layers and thick jackets. The sunrise was spectacular and stayed a little longer after the crowds left to get some peaceful views of the crater. Loren and I hiked up to the tallest peak and got an even better vantage point.

It took about two hours for us to get back to Kihei but we stopped at a grocery store on our way back to grab some things to make breakfast at the Airbnb. The drive to Hana the day before had worn us out and the early morning sunrise made it easy for us to make the decision to take it easy this day. I taught my sister Marissa how to snorkel in the Airbnb pool and we later went across the street to play at the beach.

Later we picked up Loren’s mom and grabbed some dinner and tiki drinks at South Shore Tiki Lounge. We finally stopped by McDonald’s to try some haupia pie Loren’s friend was raving about. We were huge fans and may have stopped a few more times throughout our trip. We went back to our Airbnb and played a few rounds of Phase10 until it was time to crash.

Day 6
We woke up without any plans and decided we would take another Whale Watching tour. The tour was just as amazing as the last tour and since we had a different captain we got to learn new things. Since we were already in Lahaina, we decided to try the brunch at Leoda’s Pie Shop. Loren and I split an Ahi Tuna sandwich with some cheesy potatoes. And of course we got more pie.

After a little bit of relaxing at the Airbnb, we picked up Loren’s mom to head to our snorkeling tour with Four Winds. The boat ride to the Molokini crater was a chance for even more whale watching. We got in the water and it was so fun to watch our moms snorkel for the first time. We got back to shore just before dusk so we were able to catch another perfect sunset in Kihei.

Day 7
After having breakfast at home, we checked out the Maui Ocean Center. They had an amazing shark and turtle exhibit. Compared to other aquariums I’ve been to, it’s smaller but really cool to see native creatures up close and has many outdoor exhibits.

After we hung out with the fish, we went to eat some at Paia Fish Market in Kihei. We got the fish and chips and the fish tacos. We then drove further down the coast to Wailea-Makena where we went snorkeling at Maluaka Beach. The tide was pretty low so we were able to get really close to some coral reefs and tons of amazing fish. While we could see Molokini from the beach, the snorkeling here was better than our boat tour the day before with more diverse fish and urchins. We could also see tons of whales from the beach and other snorkelers even saw some sea turtles.

Later we met up with Loren’s mom and his brother’s girlfriend for some pizza at Flat Bread Pizza in Paia. And of course we stopped by a McDonald’s on our way home for our last haupia pie.

Day 8
We woke up a little sad as we knew it was our last day. We packed our bags and cleaned the Airbnb before heading to the grocery store. We got stuff to make sandwiches and some snacks and we met Loren’s family on the beach for a picnic. We watched the whales from the shore and even saw a few sea turtles swimming in the waves. We said our goodbyes and made one last stop at Ululani’s Hawaiian Shaved Ice before heading to the airport. I really wish we hadn’t saved this for our last day because I’ve never had anything like this shaved ice in my life. And although I wish we could have had more, it was the perfect send off for a perfect trip.